Images Dated 10th March 2003

Historical artwork of the constellation of Virgo

Virgo. Coloured historical artwork of the constellation of Virgo. The constellation is depicted as an angel holding a sheaf of wheat. Virgo is the sixth sign of the Zodiac. The Sun is in Virgo between 23 August and 22 September. It is a large and important constellation, containing the point (at centre right) where the Sun's path, the ecliptic (black and red line), crosses the celestial equator. The star representing the sheaf of wheat, Spica, is the 16th brightest in the sky. This artwork is based on a sky map by the Polish- German astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687), which was published posthumously in 1690

© DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Artwork showing structure of human skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle. Illustration of the structure of human skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle (top right) consists of bundles of long, thin cells called muscle fibres. A group of five muscle fibres with surrounding blood vessels is shown at centre. Each muscle fibre contains numerous "myofibrils", one of which is shown at lower centre. The myofibril is a bundle of two types of protein "myofilament": myosin (green) and actin (red). When the muscle is stimulated, tiny cross-bridges (lower left) in the myosin filaments hook onto actin filaments and pull them along. As a result, myosin and actin filaments slide over each other, shortening the muscle and making it contract

© JOHN BAVOSI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Tundra - sun shining as snow is blown across landscape

WAT-9711
Tundra - sun shining as snow is blown across landscape
Churchill. Manitoba. Canada
M. Watson
Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© ? M.Watson/ardea.com

America, American, Arctic, Barren, Canada, Cold, Countries, Country, Earth And Environment, Frozen, Geography, Ice, Landscape, Landscapes, North America, North American, Polar, Scen Ic, Snow, Sun, Sun Lit, Tundra